Core covering machine



May 4, 193 7.

H. z. COBB 2,079,433

CORE COVERING MACHINE Filed June 28, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV ENT OR.

H. Z. COBB CORE COVERING MACHINE May 4, 1937.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 28, 1955 INVENTOR. flf/i fi) Z. C056 ATTORNEY.

' in the covering of the core.

Patented May 4, 1937 PATENT OFFICE CORE COVERING MACHINE Henry Z. Cobb, Providence, R. L, assignor to United States Rubber Products, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 28,

7 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for applying oppositely wound coverings upon cores and more particularly to machines for applying these coverings to elastic cores.

It has been proposed heretofore to apply oppositely wound coverings upon an elastic core but in the prior machines one covering is applied to the elastic core at a considerable distance from the point at which the other covering is applied, and since the core being covered is, in most cases, quite small in size and stretches readily, it may tend to stretch and contract or breathe be tween the winding points during the winding operation, thus causing irregularities to occur Furthermore, any rotation of the core about its own axis between the winding points will tend to change the number of wraps in the inner cover.

The present invention seeks to overcome these objectionable features of the core-covering machines proposed heretofore and contemplates a construction whereby the two oppositely wound coverings are applied to the core at nearly the same point to thereby provide more uniform covers upon the core.

In carrying out the present invention, one important feature resides in the arrangement whereby one of a pair of winding units employed to wind a covering yarn about the core, is arranged in reversed relation to the other unit so as to bring its winding point adjacent the winding point of the other unit to cause the opposite windings to be applied to the core at nearly the same point.

Another feature of the invention resides in the construction whereby one of the pair of winding units just referred to is supported for movement into and out of alignment with the other unit to thereby facilitate transfer of the yarn supply packages to and from the core-covering spindles.

A more specific feature of the invention resides in the construction whereby one of the pair of winding units is tiltingly mounted for movement into and out of alignment with the other unit,

45 and in locking means whereby the tiltingly 1935, Serial No. 28,802

ing units arranged in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of part of the machine of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the core-feeding means, and the lower covering unit is shown in its tilted position;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the lower winding unit; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view ofa swinging guide arm provided between the two winding units.

The various parts of the machine shown may be supported by the transverse end and intermediate frames ID that are connected by the longitudinally extending beams H, l2 and connecting bars l3. The number of the frames Ill employed may vary with the length of the machine and these frames may be provided with legs for supporting the mechanism the desired distance from the floor.

While the machine of the present invention may be employed to cover different types of flexible cores, it is designed primarily to form a right and left hand spiral covering upon an elastic or rubber core in the manufacture of elastic yarn. The winding means shown comprises an inverted upper unit l4 and an upright lower unit l5; that is, one unit is arranged in reverse relation to the other. These units during their winding operation are supported in axial alignment with each other so that the core to be covered can be advanced through the aligned hollow spindles with which the units l4 and i5 are provided.

The upper winding unit H in the construction shown comprises an electric motor the outer casing iii of which is mounted in a supporting frame [1 bolted to a bracket l8 which, in turn, is rigidly secured to the upper longitudinally extending beam II. The rotor of the electric motor I6 is secured to the hollow core-receiving spindle is which spindle, it should be noted, projects downwardly from the motor to receive the yarn supply package 20 below the operating motor. The yarn supply 20 may be wound on a spool adapted to fit over the spindle i9, and in order to increase the frictional engagement between the spindle and the spool to retain the latter in place thereupon, the spindle may be provided with recesses at its opposite sides in which the bowed springs M are provided. The spool 20 may also be provided with a notch, not shown, adapted to receive the driving key 22 upon the spindle I9.

The lower windingunit l5 may be provided with a similar electric motor 23 mounted in a casing 24, which casing is bolted or otherwise secured to the supporting bracket 25 and the rotor of this motor is secured to and drives the hollow core-receiving spindle 26 which extends upwardly from the motor and is adapted to receive a yarn supply package or spool 21.

By thus supporting the lower winding unit l5 in an upright position and the upper windiing unit in an inverted position these winding units will operate to wind a right and left hand cover upon the core at nearly the same point. This arrangement, however, serves to bring the adjacent ends of the spindles l9 and 26 so close together that there is not room between them to permit the application of the yarn supply spools to and their removal from the spindles.

One important feature of the present invention, therefore, resides in the construction and arrangement whereby one of the pair of winding units may be readily moved to and from its corewinding position so that the adjacent ends of the spindles may be separated suiflciently to permit the ready placing of the spools upon and their removal from the spindles This desirable object is secured in the construction shown by pivotallymounting the bracket 25 which supports the lower unit l5 upon the longitudinally extending bar l3 so that this bracket may swing the desired amount in a vertical plane, as will be apparent from Fig. 3. The lower end of the bracket 25 in the construction shown is bifurcated to straddle the bar I3 and may be secured upon this bar by the transversely extending pins 28 (see Fig. 1). Movement of the bracket 25 longitudinally of the bar l3 may be prevented by providing this bar with the collars 29 that are rigidly secured to the bar I3 at each side of the bifurcated bracket 25 as will be apparent from Fig. 2. The angle through which the bracket 25 is permitted to swing may be limited by the chain 30, one end of which is secured to this bracket and. the other end is secured to the beam l2.

It is important that the means just described for swingingly mounting the lower unit l5 shall serve to support the winding unit rigidly in accurate alignment with the upper winding unit I4 throughout the winding operation. To this end, in the construction shown, the bracket 25 is provided with a pin or plug 3|, the outer end of which may be tapered, and this pin is adapted to fit accurately in a correspondingly shaped hole 32 formed in the beam l2 to thereby accurately center the bracket 25 when it is swung upwardly into abutting engagement with the beam I2.

It is desirable to provide manually controlled means for locking the bracket 25 in the corecovering position and this is accomplished in the construction shown by securing to the upper portion of the bracket the spring-operated latch 33 which is slidably mounted in the latch casing 36. This latch is so positioned that its lower end will engage a shoulder or abutment 35 attached to the beam l2. The latch 33 may be raised to release the bracket 25 for swinging movement by depressing the outer end of the hand-operated lever 36 which is rigidly secured to the shaft 37 journaled at the upper end of the bracket 25 and a projection 38 secured to this shaft engages under a collar 39 secured to the stem of the latch 33 to raise the latch.

In the construction shown, the core 40 to be covered is supplied by a spool 4| and this spool may be provided with a supporting shaft 42 journaled in the spaced yokelike ends of the bracket 43 which bracket is rigidly secured to the lower end of a vertically operating rod 44. As the core 40 unwinds from the spool Q I it passes upwardly through a guide eye 45 supported by an arm 46 that projects laterally from the bifurcated portion of the bracket 25. This guide eye serves to center the core 49 with respect to the bore of the lower spindle 26 and between the adjacent ends of the spindles i5 and 26, is preferably provided a swinging arm 41 which is provided with the guide eye 48. The arrangement is such that this arm 41 may be swung to and from a position of axial alignment with the spindles, as will be apparent from Fig. 5 wherein the bracket is shown in full lines in its core-guiding position and in dotted lines in the position in which it has been swung laterally sufficiently to clear the yarn supply spool for the upper spindle when it is being transferred. The means shown for swingingly supporting the arm 41 comprises the shaft 49 journaled in a bracket 59 mounted upon the upper end of an upright 50*. The shaft 49 has rigidly secured to its upper end the plate 5| which is provided with a notched portion 52 that cooperates with a fixed pin 53 to thereby limit the angle through which the arm 41 may be swung, and a spring 54 secured to the pin 53 and an upstanding ear 55 upon the plate 5| serves to hold the arm 41 in each of the positions in which it is shown in Fig. 5. The arm 41 is preferably secured to the shaft 49 for vertical adjustment thereupon by means of a thumb screw 55.

At the upper end of the upper winding unit It is preferably provided a fixed guide eye 56 supported by the bracket 51 in axial alignment with this winding unit and the core 40 passes in the construction shown from the guide eye 56 about a roller 58 the trunnions of which are journaled in the spaced yokes of the supporting bracket 59 secured to the operating rod 44. The core 40 passes from the roller 58- through a pigtail 50 secured to a traverse bar BI and passes from this pigtail about the take-up reel 62 the supporting shaft 83 of which is journaled in the spaced yokes of the bracket 64 secured to the upper end of the operating rod 44.

The operating rod 44 is supported for vertical sliding movement and the construction is such that when this rod is lowered the core supply spool M will engage the driving roller 65, the upper roller 58 will engage the second driving roller 66 and the reel 62 will engage the third driving roller 67 to thereby feed the core upwardly throughout the winding operation as more fully set forth and claimed in my Patent No. 1,976,328 granted October 9, 1934. When the rod 44 is raised, as shown in Fig. 3, the core-feeding operation will be suspended, as will be apparent from this figure. The means shown for raising and lowering the operating rod 44 comprises a handoperated lever 69 which is pivotally supported at 59 and a bifurcated end of this lever embraces the rod 44 and lies between the spaced collars I0 secured to this rod. Spring means is provided for holding the operating lever 68 in the corefeeding position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 and in the non-feeding position in which it is shown in Fig. 3, and to this end the trunnioned portion of the lever 68 is provided with the V- shaped projection II which cooperated with a spring-pressed plunger 72 that is supported by the beam II.

In order to effect the desired winding operation, it is necessary to associate with each of the yarn-supporting spindles some form of spinning element to maintain a proper tension upon the yarn during the core-covering operation. In the construction shown each winding unit is provided with a ring and traveler. The ring 13 for the upper spindle in the construction shown is secured to the underface of a metal plate 14 which is supported by the upright 50* extending upwardly from the lower beam II. The ring l5 for the lower spindle in the construction shown, is secured by screws 16 to a metal plate ll that is fastened to the upper end of the swinging bracket 25.

During the winding operation the yarn supplied by the lower spool 21 passes from this spool through an opening in the plate ll to the traveler l8 and from this traveler to the lower end of a guide 48. The yarn supplied by the upper spool 20 passes downwardly through an opening in the plate 14 to the traveler 19 and from this traveler to a guide eye mounted at the lower end of the spindle l9.

when it is desired to stop the winding operation, it is important that means be provided for quickly stopping the rotation of the driving spindles. This is accomplished in the construction shown by providing the rotor of the upper motor with a friction shoe 8| adapted to be engaged by a braking collar 82 which is supported and operated by a lever 83 that is pivotally supported at 84 and this lever is provided with a spring 85 which continuously urges the lever in the brakeapplying direction. The outer end of this lever lies in the path of a collar 86 secured to the operating rod 44. The arrangement is such that when this rod is lowered to the core-covering position the collar 86 will hold the lever 83 in the brake-releasing position and when this rod is raised the spring 85 will operate the lever 83, to apply the brake and stop the upper motor. The rotor of the lower motor is provided with the friction shoe 8'! which is adapted to be frictionally engaged by the braking-collar 88 which is under the control of the lever 89. This lever is pivotally supported from the motor frame at 90 and is urged in the brake-applying direction by the spring 9! and during the core-winding operation this lever is held in its brake-oil position by a collar 92 positioned upon the rod 44 to hold the outer end of the lever 89 depressed. The movement of the rod 44 also preferably serves to control the current supplied to the motors l6 and 23 to operate them.

The core-feeding mechanism described serves to tension the core as it is drawn upwardly through the winding spindles and the lower winding unit serves to helically wind the first covering upon the core in one direction while the upper unit serves to wind the second covering upon the core in the opposite direction, the arrangement being such that both covers are applied to the core at nearly the same point.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for helically winding yarns in opposite directions upon a core, in combination, a pair of winding units each including a hollow core-receiving spindle for supporting and rotating a supply of yarn, means for rotating said spindles in opposite directions about the core, one unit being arranged in axial alignment but in reverse relation to the other to bring its winding point adjacent the winding point of the other unit to thereby apply right and left hand windings to the core at nearly the same point, and means for supporting one of said units for movement relative to the other so that the spindles may be separated suiiiciently to permit the placing of a supply of yarn on each spindle.

2. In a machine for helically winding yarns in opposite directions upon a core, in combination, a pair of winding units each including a hollow core-receiving spindle for supporting and rotating a supply of yarn, means for rotating said spindles in opposite directions about the core, one unit being arranged in axial alignment but in reverse relation to the other to bring its winding point adjacent the winding point of the other to thereby apply right and left windings to the core at nearly the same point, and means for supporting one of said units for tilting movement out of alignment with the other to thereby separate the ends of the spindles sufliciently to permit the placing of a supply of yarn on each spindle.

3. In a machine for helically winding yarns in opposite directions upon a core, in combination, a pair of winding units each including a hollow core-receiving spindle for supporting and rotating a supply of yarn, means for rotating said spindles in opposite directions about the core,

one unit being arranged in axial alignment but in reverse relation to the other to bring its winding point adjacent the winding point of the other unit to thereby apply right and left windings to the core at nearly the same point, means for supporting one of said units for tilting movement out of alignment with the other to thereby separate the ends of the spindles sufliciently to permit the placing of a supply of yarn on each spindle, and latch means for locking the tilting unit in its operative position.

4. In a core-covering machine, in combination, a pair of winding units, each including a hollow core-receiving spindle for supporting and rotating a supply of yarn, a ring and traveler for each spindle, means for rotating said spindles in opposite directions about the core, one unit being supported in axial alignment but in reverse relation to the other to bring its winding point adjacent the winding point of the other to thereby apply right and 'left windings to the core at nearly the same point, means for supporting one unit for movement relative to the other and the ring and traveler for this unit being mounted thereupon to move therewith.

5. In a core-covering machine. in combination, a pair of winding units, each including a hollow core-receiving spindle for supporting and rotating a supply of yarn, yarn-guiding means cooperating with each spindle to guide the yarn outwardly away from the yarn supply and to the winding point, driving mechanism for rotating the spindles in opposite directions about the core, one unit being supported in axial alignment but in reverse relation to the other to bring the winding points close together, and means for supporting one unit for movement relative to the other to separate said spindles and said yarn-guiding means for this unit being mounted thereupon to move therewith.

6. In a machine for helically winding yarns upon a filamentary core, in combination. a pair of winding units each including a hollow corereceiving spindle for supporting and rotating a package of yarn, means for independently rotating said spindles about the core. one unit being arranged in axial alignment but in reverse relation to the other to bring its winding point adjacent the winding point of the other unit to thereby apply an inner and outer helical windlng upon the core at nearly the same point, and means for supporting one of said units for movement relative to the other so that the spindles may be separated sumciently. to permit the placing of a package of yarn on each spindle.

7. In a core-covering machine, in combination a pair of winding units each including a hollow core-receiving spindle for supporting and rotating a supply of yarn, means for independently 10 rotating said spindles about the core, means for advancing the core upwardly through both spin- 

